Exploring and Enhancing Outdoor and Heritage Tourism in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
NPS grants up to $50,000 to non-federal Chesapeake Gateways Network members for outdoor recreation and natural, historical, and cultural tourism projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that enhance visitor access, interpretation, and local economic impact.
⚑ Applicant must already be a non-federal Chesapeake Gateways Network member (Place, Experience, Community, or Programmatic Partner). · Project must occur within the Chesapeake Bay watershed; projects outside the watershed are ineligible. · Foreign entities and projects conducted outside the United States are not eligible. · NPS screens SAM.gov exclusions for applicant entities and key project personnel.
This is primarily a place-based tourism and community/economic-development service grant, not IPPRA’s core survey/risk/education-policy research agenda. The team’s hazard, energy, and education policy expertise does not align with heritage tourism programming in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-08-28
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 40 partial | portfolio topics: environment, public_health; signature methods: community engaged; social/behavioral work is minor; funds service delivery, not research (capped); capped at 40 (non-research funding) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 25 weak | technical depth: minor; funds service delivery (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 5 none | no commercialization signal |
Description
Goal: Encourage outdoor recreation and natural, historical, and cultural tourism that expands access to and awareness of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and fosters economic development of communities.ObjectivesNPS Chesapeake Gateways is offering this competitive grant opportunity to strengthen a community's ability to offer or enhance outdoor recreation and natural, historical, and cultural tourism that connects visitors and residents to the Chesapeake Bay watershed as detailed in the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998.Through this grant opportunity, NPS Chesapeake Gateways will:Enhance outdoor recreation and natural, historical, and cultural tourism in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.Support projects that link outdoor and heritage tourism to economic impact.Celebrate gateway communities that welcome and invite locals and visitors to explore authentic Chesapeake Gateways Places and stories through outdoor recreation and natural, historical, and cultural experiences.Grant ThemeChesapeake Gateways is a network of places that provide opportunities to explore outdoor recreation and authentic natural, historical, and cultural experiences of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Included in this network are diverse recreational, natural, cultural, historical, and recreational sites, trails, museums, parks, wildlife refuges, interpretive and orientation facilities, and associated programs. These places, and Chesapeake Gateways as a whole, serve as entry points and the key guide for experiencing the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Eligibility
PLEASE NOTE: Projects that take place outside the watershed are not eligible for consideration. A link to all the counties in the watershed can be found in Appendix A. A full map can be found here.Chesapeake Gateways Network Requirement: The applicant must be a non-federal Chesapeake Gateways Network member (Place, Experience, Community, or Programmatic Partner). To become a Chesapeake Gateways Network member, prospective applicants need to submit a self-nomination through the Chesapeake Gateways Network portal: Join the Chesapeake Gateways Network - Chesapeake Bay Watershed (U.S. National Park Service). Foreign Entities or Projects: This program does not provide funding to foreign entities or for projects conducted outside the United States.Excluded Parties:NPS conducts a review of the SAM.gov Exclusions database for all applicant entities and their key project personnel prior to award. The NPS cannot award funds to entities or their key project personnel identified in the SAM.gov Exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or otherwise excluded from receiving Federal contracts, certain subcontracts, and certain Federal assistance and benefits, as their ineligibility condition applies to this Federal program.
Apply
View on Grants.gov → CONTACT: National Park Service <monica_marcus@ios.doi.gov>
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
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Proposal shell · Federal (generic) conventions SEE A FEDERAL EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — Federal (generic)'s document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.